Use of Microwave Frequency as Treatment for Malaria

Carmenza Spadafora of Panama's Institute of Advanced Scientific Investigations and High Technology Services and José A. Stoute of Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in the U.S. investigated whether malaria can be treated by microwave irradiation, an idea based on the unique electromagnetic properties of hemozoin, a metabolite formed by Plasmodium parasites in infected red blood cells. This project's Phase I research demonstrated that malaria parasites inside red blood cells are sensitive to low doses of microwaves that do not harm uninfected red blood cells. The Phase II grant (awarded to Dr. Stoute) will allow them to extend their results from the Phase I grant (awarded to Dr. Spadafora) by validating parasite killing effects in a mouse model of malaria and exploring the mechanism by which microwaves induce parasite death.